The bright afternoon sun roused poor hungry Mike to wakefulness. It has been almost a year since his near death experience, if it can be called that. And so far, he has been living up to his own expectations. He has been good to people, helping those he can even with the little he had. His motto, If there's even a plate of food on the table, we will all get a taste of it. This has in some way made things clearer for Mike as he no longer expects much from people. Since he focuses on just doing what he can for those he can, he never talks about what he's going through.
“Nobody really cares” he says, “they only act like they do”
So far, this had worked for him and so he wasn't even bothered to think further. But this afternoon something happened. For the past few months, Mike's diet has been horrendous. He rarely eats twice a day and sometimes goes hungry for days on end. This had caused some trouble for him as his intestines were perforated, though Mike didn't know at the time.
The most troubling issue to him at the time was how to eat his next meal, as such visits to a doctor never crossed his mind
Stepping out of the house, he moved forward into the mini plantation, which had a few plantain trees, to admire mother nature (relieve himself). When he was through he stepped back towards the house and observed 3 girls discussing towards his right. “urghh. Hope they didn't see…?” He thought while also observing the boys on the other side setting up stones for a game of 3-a-side (football).
The compound was not too large, with an area of about 2400 square meters. The compound was longer than it was wide, probably twice as long, as such the buildings (a bungalow and a one storey building) were placed serially. The owner of the property wanted to maximise every bit of land, and turned most of the free parts of the land to plantations.
Mike and the group lived on the ground floor in one of the two flats. There was an area between the plantation and the building where the boys could play around, which they always made full use of. Today was such a day, and though he had no interest in playing with them, he really wanted to watch.
While waiting for some other guys to come, Mike had a slightly serious coughing fit, and ran back into the plantation to spit out the phlegm. While he was experiencing his coughing fit, the girls on the side took notice of him, and Debbie, one of the girls spotted a hint of blood in his phlegm and raised an alarm. Mike had seen bloodcloths on his cough once or twice and wasn't surprised but the alarm drew the attention of the boys. Josh and Tom responded first with Tom, Debbie's boyfriend, insisting that they go to a clinic for a check up. After a small back and forth, Mike finally agreed to the check up.
The doctor was all kinds of pissed at Mike for letting his situation get that bad, and warned him against it. Mike agreed to take his health more seriously while muttering in his head, “if I had money to eat, I wouldn't be having this trouble now would I?”
Now, Tom usually appears as nonchalant and cool, always minding his business. This trait sometimes raises the question of what Debbie sees in him, because she's the direct opposite. She is either caring for someone or on her way to care for someone and Mike honestly felt sickened by it. Not because he thought she was wrong, but because he feels suffocated by it. even when he's not the recipient. So you could imagine Mike's shock when, after they get home, Tom pulls him aside and talks to him like someone that actually cares. “I know that you probably don't have money to eat well, but you should have told us”
Mike replies “I don't want to be a burden”
“No you're being wicked to us by not telling us. If something happens to you, we would be blamed and yet we don't know anything.”
“But…”
“No buts. If you don't open your mouth, no one will know what you're going through. We cannot read your mind.”
Mike still felt defensive as he was thinking that even if he spoke, they wouldn't want to help him. After all, when he helps others, they don't usually ask him… or do they?
While Mike was still thinking this. Tom puts his hands in his pocket and pulls out his wallet, grabs everything inside and shoves it into Mike's hand. “Get yourself something to eat. No matter how small, get yourself something to eat.”
Mike looked at the bills in his hands and discovered it was about 1500. This could, even in extravagant times, feed him thrice. He struggled to choke back tears as he tried to thank Tom, but Tom stopped him saying, “ Don't worry about it. This is what we should do for each other.”
He also told Mike to make sure he always had something in his stomach, and should eat at least twice a day. Mike agreed and planned to make sure the money would last for 3 days while eating three times a day.
Mike was still in shock when he stepped into the house. He couldn't understand how the things he believed about the people around him for the past year were just shattered in a few hours.
The thoughts kept him awake at night, till he finally understood that the bias he thought he had dealt with a year ago was still deeply rooted in him. He still didn't trust people, and because of that bias, any interactions he had with them were filtered through negative lenses. It took people stepping out of their way to break that last bit of barrier in his heart.
It seems that everything he has been through was designed to build him into a better person and improve him in some form. Coming to this conclusion, Mike grinned like a crazed person. “Bring it on.”